UK Anime Distributor Crunchyroll/Funimation/Manga UK Discussion Thread

[Lambadelta]

Well on the PRIME discussion I believe there is now a monthly option for it which may help people with tighter budgets, but unless your ordering much it isn't the best price.

I'm currently paying the student £39 a year price.

 

[thedoctor2016]

Scum's wish is awesome but not worth Amazon Prime individually

 

[crashmatt]

I'd actually like to know Jerome thinking on the contents of his new CE model. If other companies can produce art books for a similar price why not Manga/ Animatsu? As the Sentai set of Dan Machi is super expensive I may be forced to buy Manga's version.

 

[Rui]

Scum's wish is awesome but not worth Amazon Prime individually

Yeah, I just decided to read the manga instead in the end despite liking the first episode (Prime trial over Christmas). I would have potentially gone for an anime-only Amazon subscription as I briefly thought they were going to do in the US but...no. Haha.

Slightly faster shipping and a single simulcast (that I want to watch) is in no way worth £79++ for me per year. I'm Free Super Saver all the way. Money doesn't grow on trees, and I have no random family members I could share with even if I wanted to do so.

R

 

[Hanners]

There is already zero value in digital media. It's inferior in most ways to pirated media for no reason

My point exactly - you're ascribing zero value to the actual anime itself (y'know, the bit you actually engage with and watch), and 100% of your perceived value to the packaging and extraneous elements.

That isn't how a lot of people see that equation, one suspects (and hopes).

 

[Jaysgba]

Or you could just use the free delivery service?

But then I'd have to wait up to a week for Royal Mail to bother delivering. And if it's something too big for the letterbox, Royal Mail employees are too incompetent to knock next door most of the time. Amazon Prime means Amazon Logistics or Royal Mail Tracked 24h - and it's seemingly only the Royal Mail employees in the red vans that realise neighbours can accept packages.

Also, it's not just the £40-80 a year for Prime, it's the potentially £10 increase in price on every single release you buy when compared to Zavvi or Base. But really it's the principal here, this bizarre alternative world you're proposing, asides from being completely nonsensical, is completely at odds with the views you claim to hold.

Amazon aren't often that much more than elsewhere, but when they are more expensive, I'll stick an order in elsewhere and just suffer the wait. Over the year, I still use Amazon enough for it to be worth it, where else would I buy non-anime blurays, CDs, vinyl, and the occasional videogame?

I repeat, do you actually care about the cost of releases or do you just wish to use it as a stick with which to beat AL?

Honestly? Anime Limited's pricing is, for the most part, perfectly fine for CEs/UEs, with obvious examples such as ERASED being the exception. I just wish they'd go standard edition only for some titles. If there's a CE for a title, I'm gonna be stuck waiting for the CE to fall into an acceptable price point for myself if it's a show I want to buy. I'm happy with CEs for a lot of their titles, but some just don't need a CE. I'd love to own Terror in Resonance, for example, but I wouldn't pay more than £35 for it - as there's a UE, I'm stuck waiting to see if that drops to my price point before going OOP at any point rather than just being able to pick up the SE.

 

[Just Passing Through]

It is for me because I work full time and so 'next day' actually means 'wait until next Saturday to redeliver, assuming that the courier delivers on Saturday or that I'm not going out that day'. It actually sort of sucks. I'm also disinclined to pay extra for postage so I generally get my stuff in batches, often weeks after the release date.

R

Do you have an Amazon Pick-Up Location near you, as that might be a more convenient option?

 

[Jaysgba]

My point exactly - you're ascribing zero value to the actual anime itself (y'know, the bit you actually engage with and watch), and 100% of your perceived value to the packaging and extraneous elements.

That isn't how a lot of people see that equation, one suspects (and hopes).

I think it'd be more accurate to say I ascribe significantly less than zero value to digital distribution methods as they currently are and it just entirely negates the value of the actual content itself in my eyes.

 

[IncendiaryLemon]

Honestly? Anime Limited's pricing is, for the most part, perfectly fine for CEs/UEs, with obvious examples such as ERASED being the exception. I just wish they'd go standard edition only for some titles. If there's a CE for a title, I'm gonna be stuck waiting for the CE to fall into an acceptable price point for myself if it's a show I want to buy. I'm happy with CEs for a lot of their titles, but some just don't need a CE. I'd love to own Terror in Resonance, for example, but I wouldn't pay more than £35 for it - as there's a UE, I'm stuck waiting to see if that drops to my price point before going OOP at any point rather than just being able to pick up the SE.

If you don't feel like TiR is worth the UE price, there is a Standard Edition, and looking at the Amazon Marketplace, you can get it for around £25. You clearly don't love the show a lot, otherwise you'd be more willing to spend money on the UE, so why not just go for the SE? That's why they made it, for people who aren't willing to shell out for the UE.

 

[TiggsPanther]

One thing I thought of this morning regarding how much streaming can eat into physical sales.

I was thinking that I rarely skip a release simply because I've seen a stream but then I remembered... I do if the show is crap! (Or simply doesn't push my buttons)

Shows I might have dropped after buying disc one are now dropped after streaming episode three (or less)

But avoiding "Buyer's Remorse" seems like a good side effect to me.

 

[Jaysgba]

If you don't feel like TiR is worth the UE price, there is a Standard Edition, and looking at the Amazon Marketplace, you can get it for around £25. You clearly don't love the show a lot, otherwise you'd be more willing to spend money on the UE, so why not just go for the SE? That's why they made it, for people who aren't willing to shell out for the UE.

Because there is a UE. The SE is a perfectly appropriate product, but it's also an inferior product. If I end up rewatching it at some point in the future and liking it more than the first time, I'd regret not buying the UE. Which is why I'm stuck at waiting a £35 copy of the UE. I'll happily pay £25 for a standard, I'll happily pay £45 for a CE of a show I love, so I'll happily pay £35 for a CE of a show I'm not in love with.

 

[Buzz201]

But then I'd have to wait up to a week for Royal Mail to bother delivering. And if it's something too big for the letterbox, Royal Mail employees are too incompetent to knock next door most of the time. Amazon Prime means Amazon Logistics or Royal Mail Tracked 24h - and it's seemingly only the Royal Mail employees in the red vans that realise neighbours can accept packages.

Oh god, the walk to the sorting office/Post Office. How will you survive? It's like the freaking apocalypse...

Amazon aren't often that much more than elsewhere, but when they are more expensive, I'll stick an order in elsewhere and just suffer the wait. Over the year, I still use Amazon enough for it to be worth it, where else would I buy non-anime blurays, CDs, vinyl, and the occasional videogame?

Erm, literally any other retailer on the planet? HMV, Base, Zavvi, GameSeek, GAME, Tesco.

Honestly? Anime Limited's pricing is, for the most part, perfectly fine for CEs/UEs, with obvious examples such as ERASED being the exception. I just wish they'd go standard edition only for some titles. If there's a CE for a title, I'm gonna be stuck waiting for the CE to fall into an acceptable price point for myself if it's a show I want to buy. I'm happy with CEs for a lot of their titles, but some just don't need a CE. I'd love to own Terror in Resonance, for example, but I wouldn't pay more than £35 for it - as there's a UE, I'm stuck waiting to see if that drops to my price point before going OOP at any point rather than just being able to pick up the SE.

This isn't convincing me you genuinely have issues with AL prices. Might I suggest, if you don't possess genuine convictions, that your statements are inappropriate. Especially given your connections to Manga and sites within the industry.

 

[Rui]

Do you have an Amazon Pick-Up Location near you, as that might be a more convenient option?

I have things delivered to work (or an Amazon Locker which is roughly halfway between work and home) in emergencies but simply rescheduling for Saturdays is my lazy preference to ensure I don't have to carry big boxes around (no car)

For all I complain about Amazon, their delivery options are pretty incredibly comprehensive. I still don't like paying for delivery though!

I think it'd be more accurate to say I ascribe significantly less than zero value to digital distribution methods as they currently are and it just entirely negates the value of the actual content itself in my eyes.

Imagine that you are one of the many people who just collect anime to watch anime, without all of the other baggage, and don't fetishise the old fashioned idea of 'ownership' (more accurately speaking we're just licensing the private rights to a show in limited terms anyway and when BD is extinct your collection will seem much less valuable). What additional value does buying a show have over a stream for something you just want to watch once anyway, right now, rather than over and over again for years to come? The answer is 'zero'. CEs are the solution to that particular problem, because they give people the benefit of little exclusive extras they cannot get with a cheaper, faster and better stream/pirated edition, letting them choose between the value-add of the CE or the convenience of the digital version. If they really love a show but don't want a CE, they might still opt for a standard set or just stick to the stream and accept it might vanish one day. Those people matter. They're fans too, even if they don't obsess about owning every single mostly-mediocre title released to the market in physical form. And I think it's nuts to ignore their financial contributions entirely (going out of your way to avoid them, in fact) rather than trying to cater for both types of fan.

R

 

[Jaysgba]

Oh god, the walk to the sorting office/Post Office. How will you survive? It's like the freaking apocalypse...

The sorting office that opens at 6:45am when I need to be on my way to the bus stop at 6:45am? Not particularly doable on a frequent basis.

Erm, literally any other retailer on the planet? HMV, Base, Zavvi, GameSeek, GAME, Tesco.

And the pricing is similar a lot of the time, but frequently using Royal Mail 3-5 days. I'd rather just stick to Amazon when feasible for the better shipping. Cheaper prices do win out a lot of the time, and I'll order elsewhere, but Amazon still win enough of the time for Prime to be worth it. If I decide I want a video game or bluray the next day at 8pm in the evening, I don't really have much choice either.

This isn't convincing me you genuinely have issues with AL prices. Might I suggest, if you don't possess genuine convictions, that your statements are inappropriate. Especially given your connections to Manga and sites within the industry.

I don't have issues with their prices for the products they're selling, most of the time. I just wish that not every produce was released as a high price CE to begin with- some shows don't need it. Depending on whether standard editions show up for Danmachi, and My Love Story, Manga may have just fallen foul of that as well.

 

[Buzz201]

The sorting office that opens at 6:45am when I need to be on my way to the bus stop at 6:45am? Not particularly doable on a frequent basis.

They're genuinely open quite late as well, and on weekends. If you're that busy that you can't get to a Sorting Office, how do you have time to watch anime?

I don't have issues with their prices for the products they're selling, most of the time. I just wish that not every produce was released as a high price CE to begin with- some shows don't need it. Depending on whether standard editions show up for Danmachi, and My Love Story, Manga may have just fallen foul of that as well.

If there are no standards, I look forward to seeing you attack Manga with the same furore you do AL. I assume this will happen...

 

[thedoctor2016]

The sorting office that opens at 6:45am when I need to be on my way to the bus stop at 6:45am? Not particularly doable on a frequent basis.


And the pricing is similar a lot of the time, but frequently using Royal Mail 3-5 days. I'd rather just stick to Amazon when feasible for the better shipping. Cheaper prices do win out a lot of the time, and I'll order elsewhere, but Amazon still win enough of the time for Prime to be worth it. If I decide I want a video game or bluray the next day at 8pm in the evening, I don't really have much choice either.


I don't have issues with their prices for the products they're selling, most of the time. I just wish that not every produce was released as a high price CE to begin with- some shows don't need it. Depending on whether standard editions show up for Danmachi, and My Love Story, Manga may have just fallen foul of that as well.

You can rearrange delivery for a day when you are there and it opens to 8pm on Wednesdays so I'm sure most people are covered

 

[Just Passing Through]

A thought about physical versus digital. Right now on disc I'm watching Berserk, Fairy Tail, Tonari no Seki-kun and Claymore for review, and I'm rewatching Bleach, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, Bakemonogatari, Ouran High School Host Club, Dai Guard, and She, The Ultimate Weapon. Now I wonder how many of those can't be streamed from the UK?

 

[Jaysgba]

They're genuinely open quite late as well, and on weekends. If you're that busy that you can't get to a Sorting Office, how do you have time to watch anime?

1pm is not what I'd consider quite late when I don't get home until 6pm at the earliest. And then on Saturdays, they don't open until around 10am, so I'm screwed if I already have elsewhere to be. I can watch anime after work, I can't pick up packages from a locked building.

 

[Buzz201]

1pm is not what I'd consider quite late when I don't get home until 6pm at the earliest. And then on Saturdays, they don't open until around 10am, so I'm screwed if I already have elsewhere to be. I can watch anime after work, I can't pick up packages from a locked building.

Then get a parcel box? This justification is completely silly.

 

[IncendiaryLemon]

1pm is not what I'd consider quite late when I don't get home until 6pm at the earliest. And then on Saturdays, they don't open until around 10am, so I'm screwed if I already have elsewhere to be. I can watch anime after work, I can't pick up packages from a locked building.

1PM? I dunno if that's just your sorting office, but on weekdays, they're open until like 6:30pm, at least mine is.